Edcamp. Take II.

How did I spend the first weekends of the new year? Learning in a professional community, of course! Last Saturday I participated in edcamphome2.0, which was my first edcamp experience, completely online. And this past Saturday, I had the pleasure of participating in edcampsac, a face-to-face edcamp. Some might say that I had a hand in helping bring the edcamp experience to the Sacramento area, but that is it, merely a hand. The power house organizing team consisted of Peter Strawn, Colin O'Connor, Cynthia Cost, and Danielle Lemke, new acquaintances that I now consider to be trusted colleagues. 

Danielle, me, Colin, Peter, Cynthia

The day started with a decent gathering of educators from near and far, with varying years of experience. There were experienced edcampers and newbies, but you would have never noticed if the question had not been asked at the beginning. As the first sessions began, I was immediately flooded with new ideas to take back to my classroom, as well as to other colleagues. The mood was friendly, inclusive, and jovial. It is always nice to be learning with a group of educators that want to grow as professionals, which is not always the case at our own schools, so the day really energized me. Not only did I get to learn with familiar faces, I got to learn with new ones, creating relationships within the region I work. This is important to me because often I feel that I am in a bubble in my district, since I teach in the foothills of the Sacramento region. I am not near a metropolitan area, nor near an area heavy with technology industries like say the Bay Area or L.A. region, which can often promote forward thinking and innovation.

That's why I feel so strongly about this edcamp movement. It brings everyone together to share their knowledge, thus growing the knowledge base of everyone. It's almost like a collective think tank if you will. Not only were new resources, strategies and general ideas shared, but the sessions also allowed for individuals to problem solve issues in their own classrooms. In one session I was in, genius hour/20% time, a participant was concerned that an administrator might question her incorporation of the time into her math class. The group quickly offered up solutions and justifications she could use to explain her decision for starting genius hour in her classes. This is the power of a group of educators who come together to learn from each other, and I was almost dumbfounded by the amount of trust that had already been built in the room by people who barely knew each other.

I had two takeaways from the day that included the idea of changing the face of professional development. There are experts among us, we need to leverage the knowledge and talent of those around us, whether that be at our school site, district, or region. When PD is participant driven, the more learning takes place, which leads me to my biggest takeaway. I need to use this model in my own classroom, leverage the experts in my room, create a culture of trust and learning for my students. This way learning can be authentic and meaningful. We had a wonderful day, as evidenced by comments made in the Slam session. 


I was left thinking: Don't we want our colleagues and our students feeling this way about learning?

Edcampers taking a moment, in between sessions, to document their excitement for learning.

Yes Virginia, the Global Community is Real

If ever I needed proof that the global community is where I needed to be, then today was the day. I took part in edcamphome2.0, an unconference style of delivering professional development. This took place completely online through the use of google hangouts on air, numerous volunteer moderators and the 4 most amazing organizers (Kelly Kermode, Karl Lingren-Streicher, David Theriault and Shawn White). Now, if you are not familiar with edcamps, you really need to sit up and pay attention! Edcamps are non-commercial, participant driven and completely unscripted. You can read more about edcamps here and I'm sure I will blog about this more in the future. This kind of PD is by education professionals for education professionals. Today's participants ranged from classroom teachers to instructional tech coordinators, to librarians to principals. And, I might add that everyone I participated with today was an extraordinary, passionate educator wanting to grow and learn.

What I Observed

A few days before the event I saw posts in the Google+ edcamphome community teaming with excitement, questions and comments about everyone's desire to connect with one another. I was excited too, but still not ready to contribute to the general buzz of the community. Even though I am on twitter and have begun to blog, this is all still rather new and I enter every online activity with some trepidation. I am very aware of my digital footprint and want to stay safe online. Just a year ago I was afraid of becoming "searchable", but I am learning that I can be safe and still be part of a global community. And my fear of becoming "searchable" really went out the window when a friend and colleague texted me last night with the following image and comment:

In all honesty, seeing my image on her screen freaked me out. Do I really need to be a part of a global community? Is the community real? I mean does it function like a community does? Will the educational global community that I am becoming a part of take an active role in contributing to my professional well being? The answer is an emphatic, YES!

I observed the true meaning of community today, everyone coming together from across the country and world to take an active role in contributing to everyone's professional well being. This was evident from the very beginning, 4 people organizing an event for the benefit of hundreds of others. As edcamphome kicked off tech problems arose, naturally, and several people were helping to troubleshoot, not just the 4 organizers. Moderators, some of whom had never initiated a google hangout, stepped up to help with offering several session choices. And several participants tweeted out resources. This was all done for the betterment of the community, plain and simple.

What can the community do for you?

1. Help you build relationships - The kind of relationships that mean helping you when you are having a rough day or want to learn something new. I am finding that some of the people in my global community are becoming true friends. Here's the perfect example, a teacher from Argentina, Maria, establishing a new relationship with Susan, a school counselor from Canada. This was posted minutes after edcamphome was over today. That is how fast relationships can be built.

2. Nudge you to try something new - In the closing remarks, Karl, one of the organizers, urged everyone to blog about their experiences stating, "Not if, when you blog about this". Some became new bloggers today, like Laura Eldred. Read her first post here. 

3. Help you to learn by doing - Several participants today were not familiar with google+, the hangouts, googledocs, etc., but by learning by doing more authentic learning took place. I was so impressed how willing people were to take part despite this unfamiliarity. I was one of them. I got a crash course in goggle+ and hangout on air, but by learning in this manner, I have truly learned it.

My takeaway from edcamphome

The educational global community is real. It is chock full of passionate, fun, supportive people who want to share and contribute to others' well being, both personal and professional. For those of you who may be too scared to jump in, come on in the global water is great! The community will not let you fall. It will support you, challenge you and encourage you to try new things. The edcamp model for professional development is what learning in our profession should look like. Find an edcamp near you and become a member of a wonderful community.

My #oneword 2014

After reading Learn. Lead. Sparkle's latest post I started thinking. Me thinking isn't always the best thing, it can keep me up at night. But, the idea of looking at a new year's resolution in one word just might be the trick for me. So what would my one word be?

To answer this question requires me to reflect on 2013, not the best year. I lost many friends this past year and lost one of the most influential men in my life, my father-in-law. So many losses can start to take a toll on you, your marriage, your profession, and really get you pondering the meaning of life. With all the sadness throughout the first 6 months of 2013, I found it difficult to always look on the bright side of things. Add this to the fact that I wasn't entirely happy with my work situation either. 

Like they say if you can't change the situation, then change your attitude, so my oneword is...

Image Credit

I will find joy in all that I do. In fact I'm taking it one step further. I plan to keep track of the joy I find by keeping a Joy Jar where I will write little notes of what brought me joy on what day. This way at the end of 2014, I will be able to look back to see how I kept my new year's resolution. And, if I know myself, there may be some post-its on my bathroom mirror reminding me everyday to find the joy. Joy in the big things like my family, my friends, my job, and in the small things like my drive to work, my purchases at Starbucks, etc. Finding joy in all that I do will have a ripple effect, an exponential impact on my life, something I greatly need.

Find joy in all that you do and resolve to find your #oneword.

That's What I'm Talkin About - Join Us

I feel compelled to write this post only a few days after my initial post, and I know many professionals know the power of social media, twitter in particular. But, what happened to me yesterday exemplifies why more educators need to create their own professional learning networks (PLN). Here I was worried about sticking my neck out to the world and sharing ideas. Terrified that no one would care, that my writing was bad, or that I had too many typos (since publication, I have corrected 3), I nervously clicked "Publish" on my newly created blog. Here's what happened:

1. Two of my favorite tweeps, Jennifer Kloczko (@jkloczko) and Karl Lingren-Streicher (@LS_Karl) retweeted my first blog post

2. Two others, whom I did not know, Lisa Nowakowski (@NowaTechie) and Donnie Piercey (@mrPiercey) commented on Karl's tweet.

3. 30 something replies later I now find myself with two new tweeps and involved in a blogging contest
     - For more information on this blogging contest see Lisa's first post of the year here.
     - We even decided on a hashtag for the contest (#TeacherBlogContest)

This is the power of my PLN. Here I was worried about putting myself out there and instead I find myself empowered to continue. I have met two new people, who I can't wait to meet face-to-face in the future, and am having fun. That's what I'm talkin about!  I want to shout it from the rooftops...come, join in, you will find yourself better personally and professionally for it.

As someone who is relatively new to this whole twitter/blogging thing (5 months), I am so glad I have joined in. If you want to stay current, develop positive relationships with wonderful people and grow as a professional, then you need to create your PLN and if comfortable, start blogging. It's a new year, so try something new. If I can do it, so can you!

Photo Credit: Doran via Flickr